My grandfather came from Hungary and was the only one in his family who settled down in the United States. The rest of his family remained in Europe. When World War I broke out, he seemed to have become another man, downhearted. Such obvious change was not born out of concern for his welfare, but out of fear: if his only son, my uncle, had to go to war, it would be cousin fighting against cousin.

One day in 1918, my Uncle Milton received his draft notice. My grandparents were very upset. But my mother, at the age of 10, felt on top of the world about her soldier brother going off to war. Realizing how he was regarded by his little sister and all of her friends, my uncle bought them all service pins, which meant that they had a loved one in the service. All the little girls were delighted.

The moment came when my uncle and the other soldiers, without any training but all in uniforms, boarded the train. The band played and the crowd cheered. Although no one noticed. I’m sure my grandmother had a tear in her eye for the only son. The train slowly pulled out, but not about a thousand yards when it suddenly paused. Everyone stared in wonder as the train slowly returned to the station. There was a dead silence before the doors opened and the men started to step out. Someone shouted, “The war is over!” For a moment, nobody moved, but then the people heard someone bark orders at the soldiers. The men lined up in two lines, walked down the steps, and with the band playing, marched down the street, as returning heroes, to be welcomed home. My mother said it was a great day, but she was just a little disappointed that it didn’t last a tiny bit longer.

What the grandfather was most worried about was ______.

 A. the spread of the world war                      B. the safety of his two cousins

 C. a drop in his living standards                    D. his relatives killing each other

The underlined phrase “draft notice” means “______”.

 A. order for army service                             B. train ticket for Europe

 C. letter of rejection                                     D. note of warning

What did the “service pins” （in Para. 2） stand for in the eyes of the little girls?

 A. Strength.             B. Courage.               C. Victory.                        D. Honor.

Which of the following words can best describe the ending of the story?

 A. Disappointing.    B. Unexpected.          C. Uncertain.             D. Inspiring.

My grandfather came from Hungary and was the only one in his family who settled down in the United States. The rest of his family remained in Europe. When World War I broke out, he seemed to have become another man, downhearted. Such obvious change was not born out of concern for his welfare, but out of fear: if his only son, my uncle, had to go to war, it would be cousin fighting against cousin.

One day in 1918, my Uncle Milton received his draft notice. My grandparents were very upset. But my mother, at the age of 10, felt on top of the world about her soldier brother going off to war. Realizing how he was regarded by his little sister and all of her friends, my uncle bought them all service pins, which meant that they had a loved one in the service. All the little girls were delighted.

The moment came when my uncle and the other soldiers, without any training but all in uniforms, boarded the train. The band played and the crowd cheered. Although no one noticed, I’m sure my grandmother had a tear in her eye for the only son. The train slowly pulled out, but not about a thousand yards when it suddenly paused. Everyone stared in wonder as the train slowly returned to the station. There was a dead silence before the doors opened and the men started to step out. Someone shouted, “The war is over!” For a moment, nobody moved, but then the people heard someone bark orders at the soldiers. The men lined up in two lines, walked down the steps, and with the band playing, marched down the street, as returning heroes, to be welcomed home. My mother said it was a great day, but she was just a little disappointed that it didn’t last a tiny bit longer.

 

1.What the grandfather was most worried about was           .

   A. the spread of the world war           B. the safety of his two cousins

   C. a drop in his living standards          D. his relatives killing each other

2. The underlined phrase “draft notice” means “         “

   A. order for army service                B. train ticket for Europe

   C. letter of rejection                D. note of warning

3.What did the “service pins” (in Para.2) stand for in the eyes of the little girls?

   A. Strength.       B. Courage.        C. Victory.         D. Honor.

4.Which of the following words can best describe the ending of the story?

A. Disappointing.   B. Unexpected.      C. Uncertain.       D. Inspiring.

 

信息匹配（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）

首先，请阅读一些关于针对学生在生活或学习中遇到问题给出建议的信息。

A. Try to talk to him, tell him it’s wrong for you two to do that. Then try to help him with his lessons in your spare time. If he can’t accept it, let it be. Maybe he’s not such a good friend.

B. You shouldn’t regret. The beauty of one’s looking or appearance doesn’t stand for everything. You are young and still depend on your parents. The most important thing is to study hard and you are sure to have a good future.

C. I used to have the same problem. You can try my ideas, they really work. First, talk about the things you like best and can do best. Then try to make friends you’re your neighbours.

D. You can get some examples from newspapers, magazines or TV shows, let her know it’s really bad.

E. Tell him that he has done something good to animals. If he takes the eggs home, how will their mother feel when she can’t find them? On the other hand, what kind of birds are they?

F. Say sorry to him first. And try to repair it. Or you may give him your favourite toy car instead. Or buy a new one for him.

请阅读一些关于中学生所遇问题的信息，然后进行匹配。

1. My friend Jenny always takes a walkman with her and listen to loud music. I think it may hurt her ears. But she doesn’t seem to care.

2. Sam saw some bird eggs under a tree when we had a trip in the forest. He wanted to take them home. I stopped him. He’s angry with me.

3. Jack let me play with his favorite toy car. I make it go too fast and it crashed.

4. All my friends have many new clothes. They wear clothes in different style every day. But my parents can’t afford it. I think it’s ashame.

5. My close friend always wants me to give him the answers in exams. I do that. But I’m afraid I might be caught. If I don’t do that, he might not be my friend any more.

 

My grandfather came from Hungary and was the only one in his family who settled down in the United States. The rest of his family remained in Europe. When World War I broke out, he seemed to have become another man , downhearted. Such obvious change was not born out of concern for his welfare, but out of fear: if his only son, my uncle, had to go to war, it would be cousin fighting against cousin.

One day in 1918, my Uncle Milton received his draft notice. My grandparents were very upset. But my mother, at the age of 10, felt on top of the world about her soldier brother going off to war. Realizing how he was regarded by his little sister and all of her friends, my uncle bought them all service pins, which meant that they had a loved one in the service. All the little girls were delighted.

The moment came when my uncle and the other soldiers, without any training but all in uniforms, boarded the train. The band played and the crowd cheered. Although no one noticed. I'm sure my grandmother had a tear in her eye for the only son. The train slowly pulled out, but not about a thousand yards when it suddenly paused. Everyone stared in wonder as the train slowly returned to the station. There was a dead silence before the doors opened and the men started to step out. Someone shouted, "The war is over!" For a moment, nobody moved, but then the people heard someone bark orders at the soldiers. The men lined up in two lines, walked down the steps, and with the band playing, marched down the street, as returning heroes, to be welcomed home. My mother said it was a great day, but she was just a little disappointed that it didn't last a tiny bit longer.

What the grandfather was most worried about was _________ .

A. the spread of the world war             B. the safety of his two cousins

C. a drop in his living standards            D. his relatives killing each other

The underlined phrase "draft notice" means _________ .

A. order for army service                  B. train ticket for Europe

C. letter of rejection                      D. note of warning

What did the "service pins"  (in Para. 2)  stand for in the eyes of the little girls?

A. Strength.         B. Courage.      C. Victory.        D. Honour.

Which of the following words can best describe the ending of the story?

A. Disappointing.  　  B. Unexpected.       C. Uncertain.      D. Inspiring.

Which of the following statements is True according to the passage?

A. The grandfather felt downhearted because he was afraid of receiving a draft notice.

B. The train was traveling fast to the front when the news came that the war was over.

C. Few soldiers on the train had training in advance.

D. Most people including the mother were disappointed that the war didn't last a bit longer.

This is the VOA Special English Education Report. A few weeks ago, we talked about the Test of English as a Foreign Language, or TOEFL. A listener in Cambodia named Thida asks if American colleges and universities also accept the IELTS exam. IELTS is the International English Language Testing System. It was developed by the University of Cambridge ESOL examiners.
Cambridge ESOL says the test measures true-to-life ability to communicate in English for education, immigration or employment. The IELTS tests listening, reading, writing and speaking skills. It uses a mixture of accents and spellings, including British English and American English.
The test is used by government agencies, schools and professional organizations in one hundred and twenty countries. And, yes, that includes the United States. The many American schools that accepted the IELTS can be found on the Web at felts.org.
Some schools accept both the TOEFL and the IELTS, but the graduate school at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, for example, says it prefers the IEITS.
The listening and speaking parts are the same for everyone who takes the IELTS, but people have a choice of reading and writing tests -- either academic or general training.
The listening test takes thirty minutes. There are forty questions based on a recording. The reading test takes sixty minutes. Students answer forty questions based on three written passages.
The writing test also takes sixty minutes. Students have to write two essays. One essay has to be at least one hundred and fifty words long and the other at least two hundred and fifty words. The shorter one is description of something; the longer one has to support and argument.
The speaking test takes less than fifteen minutes. The score is based on a recorded talk between the student and a test examiner.
And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. If you have a general question for our series, write to special@voanews.com. I'm Barbara Klein.
【小题1】What does TOEFL stand for?

A．The Voice of America	B．The International English Language Testing System
C．The Test of English as a Foreign Language
D．The Test of English as a Native Language

【小题2】The International English Language Testing System commonly takes _______ in all.

A．less than 160 minutes	B．more than 165 minutes
C．no more than 160 minutes	D．less than 166 minutes

【小题3】 According to the passage, we can infer _______.

A．IELTS is efficient and necessary if you want to go to English-speaking countries
B．IELTS is completely different from TOEFL
C．every American needs to accept TOEFL	D．IEITS isn't used more widely than TOEFL

【小题4】What is the main idea of the passage?

A．How can the readers write papers to the VOA programme?

B．It talks about some ways to pass TOEFL.

C．It introduces IELTS.

D．How can the readers pass two kinds of tests?